Let's have more action and less politics

Posted
Thursday, February 28, 2013 4:00 pm

Alfonse D'Amato

Why should we be begging for lawmakers in Washington to work together? Clearly, with the sequester less than one week away as I write this, this is a time for Republicans and Democrats to show real leadership and put aside their partisan beliefs for the good of the nation.

Instead, in the world’s greatest democracy, we have elected officials, led by President Obama, running around finger-pointing, looking like incompetent political hacks.

After the showdown over the fiscal cliff, the federal government is once again playing Russian roulette with the nation’s economy. The sequester, which was set to go into effect on Friday, is a $1.2 trillion package of across-the-board spending cuts waiting to sweep through Washington and force hundreds of thousands of people out of work.

The most ridiculous aspect of the sequester is the initial rationale behind it. The geniuses in Washington thought that by creating cuts that would be so devastating to domestic spending, favored by Democrats, and defense programs, favored by Republicans, that the two sides would be forced to come together and cut a deal.

As Yogi Berra said, it’s déjà vu all over again. Just like the fiscal cliff, it looks like we’re going to have to wait for another last-minute resolution, as politicians in Washington are more concerned with blame games than with providing leadership.

Obama came out swinging, first against Republicans, stating, “Republicans in Congress face a simple choice: Are they willing to compromise to protect vital investments in education and health care and national security and all the jobs that depend on them? Or would they rather put hundreds of thousands of jobs and our entire economy at risk to protect a few special-interest tax loopholes that benefit only the wealthiest and biggest corporations?”

House Speaker John Boehner quickly fired back, saying, “Most Americans are just hearing about this Washington creation for the first time: the sequester. What they might not realize from Mr. Obama’s statements is that it is a product of the president’s own leadership.”